Cannabis Grow

The more likely explanation might be somewhat a combination of the first and third scenarios and suggests the challenge for the hemp food industry to separate hemp food from any association with either CBD oil or THC, whether this is through increased consumer education or the development of strains of Cannabis sativa which are guaranteed completely void of THC. Knowledge of the processes of varietal development is beyond the scope of this research and the authors acknowledge that the latter may not even be possible. That is, despite a belief in the physical and psychological benefits of hemp food, a positive attitude toward hemp food did not play a significant role in intention to consume it. The factor which provided the greatest contribution to intention to consume hemp food was consumers’ normative beliefs.

Subjective norms focused on consumers’ perceptions of what family, friends, peers and doctors would think of them consuming hemp food and whether they felt others like them would consume it as well. A high level of concern for the opinion of others and the mediating effect of the CBD construct on negative attitudes suggests that for this sample of the Australian population there remains a widespread stigma associated with hemp consumption. This stigma may be difficult to eradicate as it is the artifact of the previous illegal status of hemp food combined with decades of propaganda against cannabis use in any form . Consumers may find it difficult to disassociate hemp food from the more illicit uses of cannabis and seek the approval of others for confirmation of the acceptability of consuming hemp products. The normative beliefs and the mediated influence of negative beliefs through association with CBD oil are the only contributing factors to intention to consume hemp food in this study.

A final analysis of the findings from across the two phases of this research consisted of a meta-inference of qualitative with the quantitative findings under a pragmatic framework. Here it was revealed that the application of the theory of planned behavior and SEM in the quantitative phase two of this study was consistent with the outcomes of the initial interviews. Survey participants in the qualitative phase of the current study generally held positive attitudes toward hemp food and indicated they were likely to consume them at some time in the future, however, they also made contradictory statements indicating their reluctance to consume them at a time when they had to drive a car or attend their workplace, for example, yet denied they believed they would test positive. The issue of an association of hemp food with CBD oil and THC is complex and may not be easily resolved. This research evaluates the acceptance of hemp food in the Australian population and evaluates behavioral and normative beliefs within a population where consumption of cannabis products has been illegal until recent times.

The attitudes and beliefs surrounding cannabis may not extrapolate to a population where cannabis is a legal entity, or where hemp foods have been available for longer periods of time. However, the protocol of assessing negative attitudes as a separate construct under TPB may have utility for future research of alternate novel foods where highly salient negative associations are made to the food from external sources. The findings from the current study suggest some ambiguity may exist within the population between CBD oil and THC, the two more widely known properties of cannabis, and its association with hemp food, specifically hemp seed oil. Despite being highly conspicuous of hemp food, consumers may not be fully versed in their properties, effects, health benefits, etc., or aware of the differences between Cannabis sativa used in hemp food production, and Cannabis indica which is better known as marijuana. This may have contributed to the responses regarding the anxiolytic and relaxation effects of hemp food. Future research could focus on consumer understanding of hemp food’s specific properties and improve consumer education to address the identified lack of understanding. This may be of benefit to both the hemp food industry, and the medicinal cannabis quarter.

The findings also point to a potential for the development of a strain of cannabis fit for human consumption which is free from THC. While it is beyond the scope of this research and the competency of the researchers to suggest how or if this might be achieved, it would appear that innovation in food production is currently achieving goals never before imagined. Genetic modification, 3D printed foods, and foods produced using ultrasound or infusion heat treatment, for example, are highly advanced production methods for novel foods that may only be the tip of the innovation in the food production iceberg.Based on the reduction in seed development as compared to other crossing combinations, the triploids were determined to be infertile. Infertile hemp has been recommended as a strategy to mitigate yield reduction caused by pollination . As far as we are aware, this research represents the first report of triploid C. sativa female infertility.

In the same way, assertiveness and the abilities to appropriately perceive and understand emotions were explanatory of cannabis use when offered by friends in both adolescent age groups. Likewise, attentiveness to one’s own emotions acted as a risk factor only in the oldest age group. This pattern of results suggests that emotional components have value when it comes to improving thoughtpatterns . Moreover, they are an important preventive factor for risk behaviors such as cannabis use in the adolescent stage. In this study, active coping with strategies such as planning, humour, acceptance, cognitive reappraisal, etc., was related to lower frequency of cannabis use in the last year. This result is aligned with other investigations in which a negative association was found between active coping and behaviors related to the use of addictive substances in the adolescent population . A recent longitudinal study has revealed that greater active coping in middle adolescence prospectively predicts lower cannabis use in late adolescence . These data suggest that active coping makes it possible to control stressors through a broader repertoire of responses .

This aspect could explain responsible decision-making by helping to prevent the use of cannabis at an early age. On the other hand, the avoidant coping style predicted a greater probability of ever having tried cannabis. This result is in accordance with recent research , which found a positive association between this coping style and a greater probability of alcohol and cannabis consumption, as well as a greater quantity and frequency of use of these substances in adolescents. In this study, avoidance coping style was associated with cannabis use at some point in life for the oldest adolescent age group . The literature has highlighted that the use of cannabis begins at around the age of 14 and may be a way of regulating unpleasant emotional states due to a lack of personal resources , which could facilitate maladjustment and avoidance behaviors in the face of problems in the older group . It should be mentioned that, despite the fact that social coping correlated negatively and significantly with some variables of cannabis use, it did not have high explanatory power when considering the other personal factors. Despite this, the obtained results suggest that clinical and educational interventions could be beneficial in the development of positive coping strategies and also contribute to the reduced use of harmful substances such as cannabis at these ages.

Regarding the role of assertiveness in this study, it should be noted that it was associated with cannabis use at some point in life. This result was the same for the older group and for the use of cannabis when offered by friends. In agreement with the previous research , our results contribute to the proposition that assertive responses allow the effective management of situations related to the use of drugs, thus reinforcing an adolescent’s ability to withstand peer pressure. The influence of the peer group during this period has frequently been suggested as one of the factors most associated with cannabis use . Based on the previous research , non-normative peers are likely to promote adolescent cannabis use, which in turn can be seen as a maladaptive means of constructing and establishing personal and social identity, especially in the older group . For this reason, it could be said that having assertiveness skills has a favourable influence when strong resistance to peer pressure is required, as this is something that reduces young people’s vulnerability to the risk of consumption at these ages. In relation to trait EI, a greater perceived ability to repair negative emotional states by prolonging positive ones predicted a lower probability of ever having used cannabis in both age groups .

Likewise, a greater perceived ability to understand and repair one’s own negative emotional states was associated with a lower quantity and frequency of cannabis use in adolescents. The findings of this study are aligned with others in which a negative relationship was found between scores in emotional repair and clarity and the use of addictive substances in adolescents and university students . Our results support the idea that adolescents who better understand their emotions and have a better implementation of strategies for regulating negative emotional states are less likely to use cannabis as a way to mitigate aversive emotional states . In this study, on the other hand, a high level of emotional attention predicted a greater probability of consumption due to peer pressure, a result that was the same for the older group . These data are in line with what was found in previous literature: Higher levels of emotional attention were associated with alcohol, tobacco, and cannabis abuse in adolescents and university students . In this sense, emotional attention hasshown positive associations with anxiety, depression, and misadjusted coping strategies such as ruminative thinking in young people . Given that the onset of cannabis use occurs at around the age of 14 , it could make sense that emotional attention acts as a facilitator of consumption in middle adolescence, a period in which the search for personal identity, distancing from family values, and the need for peer acceptance are also accentuated.

Since to our knowledge cannabis policies and changes in the perceived availability by adolescents were not previously explored in the European context, these results offer an interesting insight into the aforementioned relationship. Concerning cannabis use outcomes, our results show that only some cannabis policy reforms were associated to significant changes in the prevalence. This can be considered an important finding in itself as it confirms that there is not an automatic link between cannabis policy and use , and that other factors may play an important role. Among these, we can mention information and prevention programs, but also the actual level of implementation and enforcement of reforms.They can affect the perception of risk and knowledge of adolescents, as well the social acceptability of drug use in a country, which are in turn associated with substance use.As highlighted by a previous study conducted in Europe , the heterogeneity found in the effects of cannabis policy reforms concerning the prevalence of use highlights the importance of making distinctions between different types of cannabis users.

In fact, in line with previous findings different results are obtained for different types of consumers. When considering all types of users, two categories of policies show an effect: among the more restrictive ones, only the one increasing the non-prison penalties seem to significantly reduce overall cannabis use, and among the more liberal interventions, only the one favouring the discontinuation of criminal proceedings for minor cases is linked to an increase. These results are confirmed when focusing on experimental usersor excluding frequent users from the analysis. Furthermore, those reforms reducing the maximum prison penalty for cannabis possession show a positive effect on the share of experimental users only. When finally considering only frequent users, i.e. students smoking cannabis daily or almost daily, the policy effects observed before disappear and no reforms seem to have an effect. This result is not in line with the finding from Shi et al. indicating that cannabis liberalisation in Europe was associated with higher likelihood of regular use. It is instead supported by a revision of the same study that highlighted how, by implementing some statistical improvements, this association becomes statistically non-significant.

The finding is also in line with some recent within-country studies conducted to analyse some form of cannabis liberalisation policies in the US.In these studies, no discernible pattern was detected suggesting an increases in cannabis frequent use among adolescent related to the legalisation of medical marijuana. Overall, these results offer three main insights. First, the fact that some of the reforms reducing the penalties for cannabis possession are associated to an increase in some measures of adolescent cannabis use signal that those reforms might have somehow reduced stigma and perceptions of risk associated with cannabis use . This is in light of the fact that no increase was observed concerning adolescent perceived easy access to the substance, indicating the the other main factor on which the policy reforms might have acted did not change significantly. A shift in social norms regarding cannabis use may have, instead, increased cannabis use among experimental and non-frequent users . On the contrary, in those countries where the civil penalties for cannabis possession where increased,the reduction in the share of experimental and non-frequent users was coupled by a reduction in their perception of cannabis availability.

This might indicate that this kind of policy was effective in reducing access through informal channels or increasing the price of this substance on the black market for those sub-populations of users. Second, it has to be considered that one fundamental reason for increasing the level of prohibition is that positive social externalities should be larger than the social costs of repression and private benefits for users . In fact, the failure in achieving this objective has lead several countries to move towards depenalisation and legalisation in recent years . Our results confirm that some of these reforms are linked to a reduction in the share of students approaching this substance, which is in line with this objective. However, the fact that no reduction is observed in the share of frequent users, who are those at higher risk, signal a limited public health impact of this approach among adolescents at higher risk, which might in turn reduce its social externalities. A similar reasoning can be applied to the Hungarian case , which applies the more severe punishments for cannabis possession, and where no significant change was observed either in the perceived availability or in the share of cannabis users following the policy reform. Finally, the absence of a significant decrease in the share of frequent cannabis users associated to any of the policy changes, might signal a limited role of policies overall in achieving results among this high-risk population. In this light, investments in evidencebased adolescent substance use prevention programs would be advisable.

Over biosynthesis of proline by the overexpression of P5CS may play an important role in flower initiation and bolting promotion at the early stage of plant development . Lower photosynthetic pigments and fluorescence with higher accumulation of proline in the present study indicate a stress response of plants in the L1 treatment . This stress may be due to the lower intensity of natural light under greenhouse conditions. Carbohydrates are the main source of energy and are considered the main criterion of cell division activity in plants, and their concentration depends on the amount of photosynthetically active radiation . In a previous study, it was reported that UV-A light inflfluenced the plants to accumulate more carbohydrates , whereas at a low R:FR ratio plants accumulated more soluble sugar, carbohydrates, and secondary metabolites . The ratio of red spectrum ranged from 40 to 60%, with other light sources increasing the TSC and sugar in L7, L8, L9, and L10 .

The monochromatic red, blue, and their combined spectra manifested decreased soluble carbohydrate in Anthurium cut flowers in a previous study . Our present study also found a lower TSC and sucrose content in combined red-blue spectra compared to all other treatments. From the PCA analysis, it can be revealed that both the TSC and sucrose content manifested a negative correlation with SL, LL, and LW and are closely associated with the L9 treatment. A possible explanation is based on the fact that under stress plants produce excess carbon skeletons to prevent the declining trend in photosynthetic rate and growth in plants, which help to increase osmolytes production . The reduced photosynthetic pigments , LL, and LW under the L9 treatment in the present study quite support this hypothesis. Our study found a similar pattern of TSC and sucrose content while little dissimilarities were also observed from ascorbic acid under different light spectra. It was narrated that TSC are the precursor for ascorbic acid biosynthesis, and mature green tomatoes can achieve both compounds in higher amounts under high irradiance of light, but no correlations were observed in a series of experiments between them .

These results indicate that the accumulation of sucrose content and TSC is interdependent, whereas ascorbic acid is independent of both compounds. Moreover, plants accumulate all osmoprotectant molecules significantly higher when the green light was added to the other light spectra , compared to the red and blue combination . Since ancient times, wild or naturalized plants have provided social security to millions of people globally, in the form of fuel, food, fodder, supplements, raw materials for industries, medicines, and especially a source of additional income . According to the World Health Organization, about 65–80% of people in developing countries are reliant on herbal remedies made from medicinal plants.The Indian Himalayan region was well-known for its floristic diversity, with approximately 1748 medicinal plant species reported from the region , which were used in various fifields of chemistry, pharmacological research, pharmacognosy, and clinical therapeutic studies . Himachal Pradesh is the northeastern state of India, geographically divided into three distinct regions; the outer Himalayas , the mid-hills, and the greater Himalayas, which cover an area of 55,673 km2 . Due to its diverse climatic, topographic, and geographical position or altitude, the state of Himachal Pradesh represents a rich source of biodiversity.

According to the data of the Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia Committee , out of 1100 single-ingredient drugs, 350 plant species belong to native therapeutic groups, among which 225 species blooms in the state of Himachal Pradesh and were obtained commercially . Angiosperms, including 1003 species of dicotyledons, belonging to 498 genera and 313 species of monocotyledons, belonging to 133 genera. Whereas, the gymnosperms are characterized by only 10 species and 8 genera in the state . The contribution of dicotyledons and monocotyledons to the world flora is approximately 81.3 and 18.7 percent, respectively, with the Shimla district accounting for 23.3 percent of monocotyledon species . Approximately 500 species of medicinal plants have been reported from Himachal Pradesh . From the very beginning of human civilization, people have been developing their knowledge of plant use, management, and conservation. Indigenous people seem to have a hierarchical knowledge of these traditional medicinal plants for a variety of human diseases, and this knowledge has been passed on from one generation to the next . This study documents the accumulated knowledge regarding plants in the Maraog region that has traditionally been employed for the treatment of different human diseases.

Future research could focus on consumer understanding of hemp food’s specific properties and improve consumer education to address the identified lack of understanding. This may be of benefit to both the hemp food industry, and the medicinal cannabis quarter. The findings also point to a potential for the development of a strain of cannabis fit for human consumption which is free from THC. While it is beyond the scope of this research and the competency of the researchers to suggest how or if this might be achieved, it would appear that innovation in food production is currently achieving goals never before imagined. Genetic modification, 3D printed foods, and foods produced using ultrasound or infusion heat treatment, for example, are highly advanced production methods for novel foods that may only be the tip of the innovation in the food production iceberg.

Based on the reduction in seed development as compared to other crossing combinations, the triploids were determined to be infertile.As far as we are aware, this research represents the first report of triploid C. sativa female infertility. Whether the infertility of the triploids directly mitigates the yield reduction by pollination was not addressed in this study, and therefore is still unknown. Further research is necessary to demonstrate the effect of infertility on the development of cannabinoids in high pollen versus low or no pollen conditions. Nonetheless, it can be speculated that infertility might improve cannabinoid yield by the following two different mechanisms: by avoiding the termination of inflorescence development and/or by avoiding reductions in cannabinoid accumulation. Similarly to Arabidopsis, C. sativa has an indeterminate inflorescence architecture, which means the inflorescences keep growing and developing additional flowers until a specific event sends a signal to halt the flowering process.

In the Arabidopsis model, successful pollination can induce AGAMOUS expression , which will trigger downstream signals to end flflowering and begin flower senescence . The triploid plants in our research showed no response to pollination, which could be a sign that the terminal flowering signals might not initiate in the triploid plants following a pollen challenge. On the other hand, seed development after pollination may alter carbon resource allocation, which might reduce the development of inflorescences and secondary metabolism synthesis. Our research showed that triploid plants rarely produced seeds following pollination, and could therefore suggest that plants will not allocate carbon resources from flower development or cannabinoid synthesis to seed development. It is also possible that neither of these physiological processes are impacted, but rather the reduction in cannabinoid content in pollinated flowers is merely due to a dilution effect of the presence of seeds, which do not contain the cannabinoid-producing trichomes. More research on the effect of infertility on cannabinoid development is warranted to further confirm the value of commercial triploid cultivars.

Although plants containing even numbers of chromosomes are generally considered fertile, reduced fertility or even infertility have been reported in other species containing even ploidies. For example, the allotetraploid, or natural tetraploid, Hibiscus acetosella ‘Panama Red’ has been reported as producing no viable seeds . Tetraploid foxtail millet cultivars displayed a two-fold reduction in fertility as compared to their diploid counterparts . Reporting the reduced fertility of tetraploid C. sativa has important implications for the hemp breeding and hemp seed industries. Our results indicate that the investment of producing triploid seeds may be higher than producing diploid seeds, due to the lower seed numbers produced in the tetraploid × diploid crosses studiedin this research.

To compensate for the reduced seed number, more intense pollination or extending the pollination period may be recommended. Furthermore, the asymmetric nature of the crosses involving the tetraploid, at least as observed in the genotypes tested in the current study, indicate that the selection and breeding of the pollen recipient as the tetraploid parent has important ramifications for the success in breeding triploid C. sativa. The unidirectional compatibility or asymmetric interploidy crossing compatibility of hemp might be caused by an asymmetric triploid block. A triploid block is a phenomenon in which seed development fails due to an imbalance in genome size and gene expression between the parents of different ploidies; in many cases, triploid block leads to abnormal development or underdevelopment of the endosperm and embryo .

However, in our case, the low level of blood THC and the absence of urine do not allow to make inference on the time of the assumption. In developed countries, and even in developing countries, there is a rising concern on the part of health authorities on how diet can cause numerous diseases . Therefore, several epidemiological studies have exposed that the consumption of diets with high quantities of fat and with a high content in saturated fatty acids induces many health-related disorders . Thus, one of the most effective behaviors to reduce the risk to develop several diseases is restraining the consumption of saturated fats. In this sense, meat and meat products are one of the principal dietary sources of saturated fats. These fats, which comprised between 30 and 50% of the product, are rich in saturated fatty acids and cholesterol, and they are considered a promoting factor in the development of several diseases including coronary heart disease, metabolic syndrome, obesity and overweight, inflammation, oxidative stress, etc. .

As a result of these undesirable health effects of excessive fat consumption, the meat industry has had to adapt to these consumers’ requirements developing low-fat meat products with healthier lipid profiles. To achieve this objective, besides the reduction of fat content, numerous strategies have been tried including the direct addition of vegetable oils with healthier lipid profiles , the incorporation of vegetable oils with healthierprofile encapsulated in several matrices , the use of oleogels , and the use of gelled emulsions . Its formation consists of two stages; in the first, the O/W emulsion is elaborated, and in the second stage, the gelled emulsion is properly obtained with the formation in the aqueous phase of a drop structure of the emulsion inside of the cross-linked structure of biopolymers . To elaborate these O/W emulsions, several vegetable or marine oils, as well as mixes of them with a healthier fatty acid profile have been utilized, including chia oil, linseed oil, tiger nut oil, and algal oil, among others . Nevertheless, it should be borne in mind that reducing or replacing the fat content in a meat product is not an easy task.

Animal fat is a basic ingredient in the processing of meat products due to its technological and sensory properties . Additionally, the addition of vegetables or marine oils with a healthier fatty acid profile may cause an acceleration of lipid oxidation reactions, which can lead to a decrease in the product shelf life as well as a deterioration of their sensorial and nutritional properties . As mentioned above, several vegetable oils can be used to elaborate gelled emulsion. Chia oil is a significant oilseed due to its nutritional composition, consisting of up to 65% α-linolenic acid and 20% linoleic acid in the unsaturated fatty acid fraction . Since 2014, it can be marketed in the European Union. On the contrary, hemp oil is not widespread on the market, although it is also characterized by an interesting fatty acid composition with a high content of polyunsaturated fatty acids. Thus, in this composition, it is possible to find a high content, up to 75%, of polyunsaturated fatty acids and the unique ratio of 3:1 between omega-6 and omega-3. Hemp oil highly contains linoleic acid and α-linolenic acid in the range of 50–60% and 20–25%, respectively . In addition, there are high amounts of chlorophyll in the oil due to the harvesting of high amounts of immature seeds .

With the objective to stabilize the O/W emulsion formed, several ingredients have been used. Pseudocereal flours seem to be excellent candidates for this application . They contain high-quality proteins, abundant amounts of starch with unique characteristics, large quantities of micronutrients such as minerals, vitamins, and bioactive compounds, and they are gluten-free, which makes them suitable for people suffering from various gluten intolerances. Their main component, starch, has many interesting features such as very small granules ready to form cross-link structures, which made them useful for stabilizing emulsions . For these reasons, interest in pseudocereals has increased immensely since the turn of the century, and research efforts have been intensified to include them in our diet. Therefore, the objective of this work was to develop gelled emulsions using pseudocereal flours and vegetable oils , to determine their chemical composition, physico-chemical properties, and lipid stability, and to evaluate their stability during frozen storage. Meat plays a crucial role in human evolution and is an important component of a healthy and balanced diet , and meat consumption has long been an indicator of wellbeing. Despite the fact that today the amount of meat in human diets varies greatly among individuals within societies, meat consumption is rising, and current evidence suggests that increased consumption of meat, especially that of red and processed meats, will adversely affect public health . Therefore, for some nutrient-dense foods, which can increase noncommunicable disease risk when eaten in excess, dietary recommendations must encourage preventing overconsumption .

The crop is widely grown as an annual staple food and animal feed by resource-poor smallholders mostly on marginal infertile soils without purchased production inputs in countries of tropical and sub-tropical Africa, Asia and Latin America, with a total cultivated area >20 million hectares producing over 240 million tons of fresh storage roots, more than 70% of it being in Africa and Asia, with the greatest share in the former . Nigeria is the largest world producer of cassava . It is currently the world’s fourth most important staple and carbohydrate-enrichedfood after rice, wheat and maize and is an important component in the diet of over 800 million people across continents. In the tropical and sub-tropical countries, where cassava is produced, total human calories intake from cassava products exceeds 200 billion kcal/day . Because cassava roots are very low in protein content , human requirement for protein and other essential nutrients are commonly fulfilled by other food sources.

Cassava leaves are also consumed and constitute an excellent source for protein supplement , minerals and vitamins for the human diet in many African and Asian countries, as well as in certain regions of Brazil . Nevertheless, cassava roots and leaves are deficient in sulfur-containing amino acids . In countries where cassava is traditionally used directly for human consumption , particularly in Africa and Latin America, cultivars low in cyanogens are preferably used to avoid health hazards. When using cultivars high in cyanogens , much of the hydrocyanic acid is normally removed from cassava roots and leaves by using a mix of complex traditional methods and modern technologies during food processing and preparation . Its often poorly-processed food products contain some anti-nutrient elements such as free HCN, phytates and polyphenols, and particularly acetone cyanohydrin, which is commonly associated with an upper motor neuron disease known as “konzo syndrome” in some African countries . This occurs mainly with large intake of inadequately processed bitter-cassava products in areas hit by long drought and with shortages of balanced diets. Also, cassava leaves have value as a protein supplement in animal nutrition either in feed formulation for mono-gastric animals or as a fresh forage to supplement low-quality roughages in ruminant feeds .

All parts of cassava plants are valuable sources for animal feed that could be either fed or grazed fresh in case of sweet cultivars, or dried and ensilaged in bitter cultivars . For decades, Thailand was the largest exporter of cassava dried root chips, mainly to European countries, where it were used as a cheap component in the industry of animal feed concentrates. A significant portion of storage roots is used worldwide for starch extraction, glucose manufacturing, alcohol, and recently for biofuel. The cassava crop is propagated vegetative by using short woody stem cuttings planted horizontally, vertically, or inclined on flat or ridged lands at population densities from 5000 to 20,000 cuttings per hectare depending on the cropping systems and purpose of production . Lower population densities are practiced in intercropping systems, commonly with grain legumes and cereals such as maize and sorghum. When grown in mono-cropping systems, higher densities at 10,000 plants per hectare, or greater, are used. Sexual seeds are used mainly in breeding programs, though its use in commercial cassava production is a promising option to obviate constraints, particularly diseases, associated with vegetative propagation . Storage roots are generally harvested 7 – 24 months after planting, depending on cultivar, purpose of use and growing conditions. Due to root perishability and rapid deterioration after harvest , fresh roots have to be used immediately after harvesting, either eaten on the farm, marketed for consumption, processed for starch extraction, dried for flour production, roasted for food products and/or used for animal feed.

However, preharvest pruning in the three weeks before harvest decreases root deterioration because of increases in the total sugar/starch ratio in the roots . Cassava processing near production fields, makes it an ideal vehicle for rural development through creating employment opportunities in the areas where it is grown. Some of the processed food products are commonly known as farinha da mandioca in Brazil and bordering countries, gablek in Indonesia, and gari and foufou in West Africa . Also, in the Amazon region, local people prepare drinks such as Mingaoand Manicuera . Combining fresh cassava markets with those of its processed products should increase marketing flflexibility and crop profifitability, hence reducing the many risks often encountered by the producers.

We observed no differences in reported coping strategies by cancer survivor status, which may be explained by the increased use of cannabis for non-medical purposes across the U.S. . The results of this study should be considered in light of the limitations of the study. First, due to the cross-sectional nature of the study, causation and temporality cannot be determined. Due to the anonymity of survey responses, there may be repeat responses, although data cleaning and reCAPTCHA methods in REDCap were used to avoid multiple responses. In addition, no monetary or other incentives were provided, thus reducing the likelihood of intentional repeated responses. Generalizability of study findings may be limited due to the electronic nature of the survey, which excludes cannabis users without internet access. Furthermore, due to the self-reported nature of the data, there is potential for recall bias and misclassification bias of COVID-19 and cannabis behaviors and symptoms.

Additionally, due to the urgent need for data collection early in the pandemic, the COVID-19 Cannabis Questionnaire was not validated within the target population prior to dissemination in the field. Medicinal cannabis use was based on self-report without medical record or prescription confirmation. Lastly, while differences in the age distribution between cancer survivors and non-cancer survivors were considered in our matching strategy, we describe bivariate associations between cannabis behaviors, COVID-19 symptoms, coping strategies by cancer status, and additional factors including race/ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status, which may explain the differences observed in the sample.Cannabinoids, active components of the plant Cannabis sativa, had been used for centuries in ancient medicine as therapeutic remedies for a variety of conditions, before becoming stigmatized due to their psychoactive effects . In the second half of the 19th century, phyto-cannabinoids have been re-evaluated after the discovery of the chemical structure and isolation of different substances, and the subsequent development of cannabinoid-based drugs that have been FDA approved mainly to treat chemotherapy-induced nausea, insomnia and appetite, epilepsy, spasticity, and pain management .

Then, the elucidation of the endocannabinoid system, from the initial type 1 and type 2 cannabinoid receptors and their endogenous ligands to the emerging complexity of a wider system made up of additional putative receptors, ligands and enzymes, altogether termed endocannabinoidome, has further boosted research into the therapeutic potential of phyto, endo and even syntho cannabinoids, cancer treatment included. Unfortunately, despite accumulated evidence pointing in the direction of the potential anti-carcinogenic effects of cannabinoids, there are still few data that corroborate those pre-clinical studies , but the fast-paced rhythm of research in this field bodes well for the long-awaited good news . In the current research topic, new important pieces of evidence regarding the role of cannabinoids in different types of cancer and their mechanisms of action are presented in four original manuscripts and six review articles. First, Singh et al. review literature data of cannabinoids’ anti-cancer effects and of their activity as cell proliferation inhibitors, signalling molecules, apoptosis inducers and cell motility deactivators in prostate cancer. The authors concluded that, although several pathways used by cannabinoids to provoke the death of cancer cells have indeed been identified, their mechanism of action remains as yet unclear . Of note, one of those key mechanisms involved in the development and progression of cancer is autophagy.

Lee et al. examine the molecular mechanism and role of this complex process in different types of cancer, and the role played by cannabinoids in its regulation. The ambivalent contribution of autophagy to tumour’s spread, inhibitory in early stages through anti-inflammatory and anti-necrosis action and supportive in more advanced stages by supplying energy to cancer cells, is an interesting starting point for innovative therapeutic exploitation. Several studies have demonstrated how cannabinoids, by inducing autophagy, can inhibit cancer cell proliferation in vitro and in some in vivo models through the activation of the p8/TRIB3 pathway; consistently, different cannabinoids in combination with radiotherapy have been found to reduce tumour growth by promoting autophagy; however, these promising data still lack a proper mechanistic understanding and require further investigation .